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Masego (musician)

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Masego
Masego in 2023.
Background information
Birth nameMicah Davis
Born (1993-06-08) June 8, 1993 (age 31)
Kingston, Jamaica
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • singer
  • record producer
Instruments
  • Saxophone
  • drums
  • guitar
  • synthesizer
  • vocals
Years active2013–present
LabelsEQT Recordings, LLC.
Websitewww.masegomusic.com

Micah Davis (born June 8, 1993), known professionally as Masego (/məˈseɪɡoʊ/ mə-SAY-goh), is a Jamaican-American musician and singer, known for incorporating the saxophone into his music. Masego released two EPs in 2016, The Pink Polo EP with Medasin, and Loose Thoughts. He gained widespread attention with his collaborative record with FKJ called "Tadow" released in 2017. In 2018, he released his debut album Lady Lady.[1] His album Studying Abroad: Extended Stay was nominated for the 2022 Grammy Awards in the "Best Progressive R&B Album" category.

Early life

[edit]

Micah Davis was born June 8, 1993 to a Jamaican father and an African-American mother. His father was in the U.S. Air Force and his mother was an entrepreneur. He was raised with his two sisters. One is also a musical artist and the other is involved in voice acting and media outlets. Both his mother and father were pastors although he was raised in a non-denominational Christian home. Military travels eventually led his family to Virginia, but he also lived in Sumter, South Carolina for a couple of years. He first learned how to play the drums without formal lessons in his youth. Davis has spoken about learning the piano, sax, and various drum machines. In high school, Davis adopted the name Masego, a Tswana translation of his church name "blessing." Davis attended Woodside High School in Newport News, Virginia and Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia before leaving to focus solely on his musical career.[2][3]

Career

[edit]
Masego performing in 2023.

In 2015, Masego released the collaborative extended play, The Pink Polo EP with Medasin, spawning the single "Girls That Dance".[4] The next year, he released his EP Loose Thoughts.[5]

In 2017, he met French artist FKJ, and the two released the track "Tadow." According to FKJ, the song was fully improvised not long after meeting.[6]

On September 7, 2018, he released his debut album Lady Lady, including guest features from FKJ, SiR, Tiffany Gouché, and De' Wayne Jackson.[7] The album featured the previously released "Tadow" as its lead single.

His EP, Studying Abroad was released on November 13, 2020.[8] Masego released his self-titled album on March 3, 2023.[9]

Masego 2023 at Wiltern Venue

Musical style and influences

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Drawing from his upbringing of both his parents being pastors, Davis stated that church allowed him a place to learn music from talented musicians. Davis also cited Lukky (DJ PLM), John P. Kee, Andre 3000 and Cab Calloway as influences.[10] Davis grew up in a room with over 200 vinyl records on the walls while simultaneously having friends giving him hard hitting drums and trap music influences.[11] He refers to his own musical style as "TrapHouse Jazz".[12]

Discography

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Studio albums

[edit]
List of extended plays, with selected details
Title Album details
Lady Lady
Masego

Extended plays

[edit]
List of extended plays, with selected details
Title Album details
The Pink Polo EP
(with Medasin)
  • Released: April 5, 2015[15]
  • Label: TrapHouseJazz
  • Format: Digital download
Loose Thoughts
  • Released: July 27, 2016[16]
  • Label: TrapHouseJazz
  • Format: Digital download
Studying Abroad
  • Released: November 13, 2020[17]
  • Deluxe: May 21, 2021
  • Label: UMG, EQT Recordings, LLC
  • Format: Digital download

Mixtapes

[edit]
  • Blessing (January 30, 2013)
  • Masego Music (June 1, 2013)
  • Better with Headphones (May 29, 2014)
  • Traphouse Jazz (December 12, 2014)[18]

Singles

[edit]
List of singles, with year released, selected chart positions and certifications
Title Year Peak chart positions Certification Album
US
R&B
[19] 		US
Adult
R&B
[20]
"Tadow"[21]
(with FKJ) 		2017 — 19 Lady Lady
"Mystery Lady"[23]
(with Don Toliver) 		2020 24 24 Studying Abroad
"My City"[24]
(with Elhae) 		2021 — — Aura III
"Yamz"[25]
(with Devin Morrison) 		— 14 Non-album single
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

Other charted songs

[edit]
List of songs, with year released, selected chart positions and certifications
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
R&B
[19] 		US
Adult
R&B
[20]
"Hate The Club"
(Kehlani featuring Masego) 		2020 18 — It Was Good Until It Wasn't
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

Other guest appearances

[edit]
List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name
Title Year Other artist(s) Album
"Late Night" 2015 GoldLink And After That, We Didn't Talk
"Ooh Nah Nah" 2017 SiR HER TOO
"Touch the Floor"[26] 2018 VanJess Silk Canvas
"Good Girl" Tiffany Gouché Non-album single
"One Life"[27] 2019 The Game, J. Stone Born 2 Rap
"Need It"[28] Kaytranada Bubba
"Sleigh"[29] Smino, Monte Booker High 4 Da Highladays
"Amy" Yuna Rouge
"Slow Down"[30] 2020 Ro James Mantic
"Stickin'"[31] Sinéad Harnett, VanJess Ready Is Always Too Late
"Above" USERx USERx - EP
"Silk" 2022 Kojey Radical Reason to Smile
"Marching Band" 2023 Yussef Dayes Black Classical Music
"A Song for Mom" 2024 Mustard, Ty Dolla Sign, Charlie Wilson Faith of a Mustard Seed

Production discography

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2016

[edit]

Masego & Medasin – The Pink Polo EP

  • 08. "Love Be Like (Medasin Remix)"

Masego – Loose Thoughts

  • All tracks (guest 'ghost' producer Lukky, DJ PLM)

2018

[edit]

VanJess – Silk Canvas

  • 03. "Touch the Floor"

Masego – Lady Lady

  • All tracks

2019

[edit]

Ari Lennox – Shea Butter Baby[32]

  • 04. "Up Late"

2021

[edit]

Judas and the Black Messiah: The Inspired Album

  • 08. "Somethin' Ain't Right" (Masego featuring JID and Rapsody)

Drake – Certified Lover Boy

References

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  1. ^ Katrin Nattress (September 7, 2018). "Masego on How Women Inspired His Debut Album 'Lady Lady' & His Dream Collaborations". Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  2. ^ Annabell Ross (November 2018). "Masego Is Redefining The Ladies' Man". LNWY. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  3. ^ Kathleen Johnston (January 23, 2019). "Meet Masego, the next-level singer and saxophonist making jazz music cool again". GQ. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  4. ^ Ramirez, Erika (June 30, 2015). "Masego & Medasin Premiere Trap-Meets-Jazz 'Pink Polo' EP: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  5. ^ Stacy-Ann Ellis (June 8, 2016). "Premiere: Masego's 'Loose Thoughts' Make For One Heck Of A Summer Project". Vibe. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  6. ^ Monroy Yglesias, Ana (August 2, 2019). "Looping Guru FKJ Talks Improvising "Tadow" With Masego & Being "A Melting Pot"". GRAMMY.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  7. ^ Bedolla, Daise (August 23, 2018). "Masego, the Ultra-Smooth "TrapHouseJazz" Singer, Is Ready for His Breakout". Vogue. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  8. ^ "Masego is Studying Abroad in his latest EP". Revolt. November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  9. ^ Grant, Shawn (March 3, 2023). "Masego Delivers His New Self-Titled Album Ahead of Worldwide Tour". The Source. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  10. ^ Garrett, Ural. "Masego Calls His Sound "Trap House Jazz." We Call It the Future of Hip-Hop". LA Weekly. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  11. ^ Marcus J. Moore (September 11, 2018). "Masego's many layers". The FADER. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  12. ^ Younger, Briana (September 30, 2015). "Is It Rap? Is It Jazz? No, It's TrapHouseJazz, Masego Style". Bandwidth. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  13. ^ "Lady Lady by Masego". Retrieved November 24, 2019 – via music.apple.com.
  14. ^ Gonzalez, Alex (February 18, 2023). "Masego's Self-Titled Album: Everything You Need To Know". UPROXX. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  15. ^ "The Pink Polo EP by Masego & Medasin". Retrieved January 5, 2021 – via soundcloud.com.
  16. ^ "Loose Thoughts by Masego". Retrieved November 24, 2018 – via music.apple.com.
  17. ^ "Studying Abroad - EP by Masego". Retrieved November 24, 2020 – via music.apple.com.
  18. ^ "Masego". Masego. December 18, 2011. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  19. ^ a b "Masego – Chart History: Hot R&B Songs". Billboard. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  20. ^ a b "Masego – Chart History: Adult R&B Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  21. ^ Fresh, Mikey. "Masego And FKJ Debut The Full Version Of "Tadow"". Vibe.
  22. ^ a b "American certifications – Masego". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  23. ^ Maicki, Salvatore. "Hear Masego join forces with Don Toliver on new single "Mystery Lady"". The FADER. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  24. ^ Samuels, Keithan (March 27, 2021). "Elhae Shares New Song 'My City' Featuring Masego". Rated R&B. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  25. ^ Hynes, Hayley (November 20, 2021). "Masego & Devin Morrison Want Some "Yamz" In New Song & Music Video". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  26. ^ "Silk Canvass by Vanjess". iTunes. July 27, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  27. ^ "Born 2 Rap". Apple Music. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  28. ^ Krystal Rodriguez (December 9, 2019). "Pharrell, Tinashe and more feature on Kaytranada's new album, BUBBA". Fact. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  29. ^ "High 4 Da Highladays – Single". Apple Music. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  30. ^ "Slow Down". Apple Music. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  31. ^ "Stickin' (feat. Masego & Van Jess)". Apple Music. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  32. ^ Chuck Ramos (May 7, 2019). "Ari Lennox Announces "Shea Butter Baby" Album & Releases "Up Late" Single". HipHopDX. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
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